Raise your new-product success rate by eliciting latent needs

“For any business to create and sustain new product success, a responsive market orientation is not sufficient and, thus, that a proactive market orientation plays a very important positive role in a business’ new product success” 1

Proactive market orientation addresses the latent needs of customers

At first customers don’t express latent needs. However, after hearing a new product concept’s description and reflecting on it, some put their latent needs into words and describe how they think the concept might work for them.

Customers are aware of these needs and solutions and can readily voice them

Expressed needs are known by all competitors. The result is an aggressive price competition as competitors quickly match new features meeting expressed needs

Making the most of latent needs

Latent needs often surface when early adopters in emerging or adjacent markets reflect on a new product concept. These leading edge users will pay value-based margins for the product and ungrudgingly work with the developer to resolve post launch “teething” problems.

Niche markets — where surfacing latent needs pays off

All proactive new products materialize in specialty niche markets.

Once the new product gains a foothold in the market niche, competitors struggle to match the evolving product’s growing value as early adopters and the developer continue to talk.

Some niche markets evolve to become essential cogs in more complex end-products. They remain specialty niche markets and sustain value-based pricing and the loyalty of their customers with increasing emphasis on service features.

Other niche markets are harbingers of larger markets. They break out of the niche with an explosion of demand. Here the major customer need is for reliable supply. If the foothold in the niche market is secure then switching costs are high. As demand skyrockets, developers who then focus on supply chain issues will gain gratifying revenue and profit growth.